This team needs a LEGIT center in the worst way

You really just need someone who rebounds well and provides some kind of defensive skill the meshes with the other frontcourt guys. Greg Monroe's strength isn't weak-side defense. The Pistons need someone on the roster that who can cover block/alter shots at the rim. They also need the right perimeter guys to put our bigs in the best situations. Right now that's only Zombie Tayshaun. Greg Monroe can peak at around 15-18ppg, which is fine for your top big man scoring option. But he's going to be most effective with complementary players around him. There aren't many of those on this roster.

Marreese Speights! He's in the last year of his rookie contract! He's hungry and he doesn't "fit" into what Doug Collins is doing in Philly! He can be had for a 2nd rd pick. He's 6-10, 245 with some offensive game. At a minimum he's better than Max and/or Ben.

Marreese Speights! He's in the last year of his rookie contract! He's hungry and he doesn't "fit" into what Doug Collins is doing in Philly! He can be had for a 2nd rd pick. He's 6-10, 245 with some offensive game. At a minimum he's better than Max and/or Ben.

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Is Max still on the roster? I thought Gores bounced the Spare Tires when he upgraded the Palace.

Marreese Speights! He's in the last year of his rookie contract! He's hungry and he doesn't "fit" into what Doug Collins is doing in Philly! He can be had for a 2nd rd pick. He's 6-10, 245 with some offensive game. At a minimum he's better than Max and/or Ben.

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He'd be the perfect low risk pick up right now so that we could test drive him.

Marreese Speights! He's in the last year of his rookie contract! He's hungry and he doesn't "fit" into what Doug Collins is doing in Philly! He can be had for a 2nd rd pick. He's 6-10, 245 with some offensive game. At a minimum he's better than Max and/or Ben.

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If that's really all it took then that would be great. Start him and Monroe and they'd actually have some size. He can play which probably puts him out of Joe's sights though.

Marreese Speights! He's in the last year of his rookie contract! He's hungry and he doesn't "fit" into what Doug Collins is doing in Philly! He can be had for a 2nd rd pick. He's 6-10, 245 with some offensive game. At a minimum he's better than Max and/or Ben.

Marreese Speights! He's in the last year of his rookie contract! He's hungry and he doesn't "fit" into what Doug Collins is doing in Philly! He can be had for a 2nd rd pick. He's 6-10, 245 with some offensive game. At a minimum he's better than Max and/or Ben.

I would love to try something like that (Bengo and a 2nd for Speights). Taking a flier on a talented big guy seems like a new lose proposition to me. Maybe more importantly, that would commit the Pistons to playing time at the SG for Daye - which should be his best position.

I would love to try something like that (Bengo and a 2nd for Speights). Taking a flier on a talented big guy seems like a new lose proposition to me. Maybe more importantly, that would commit the Pistons to playing time at the SG for Daye - which should be his best position.

Right now, Daye is blocked by Gordon, Tay and JJ.

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I agree. I think that Bengo, Daye, and a 2nd round pick is a fair price for Speights. Get it done, Joe!

I just recently saw the movie "Moneyball" and once upon a time I think Joe was trying to do what Billy Beane did with the Oakland A's. Assemble a bunch of players that were undervalued to contend despite what talent scouts said or what the conventional wisdom was. In effect he was trying to reinvent the game. It netted us the 04 championship. I am not sure if he is on that path, although Billy Beane in Oakland is still trying to win the championship based on Sabermetrics. Boston did it twice with Bill James as a consultant. I thnik Joe may have lost his Peter Brand/Bill James once John Hammond left. He needs to find someone who can evaluate beyond the conventional and not be personally tied up with conventional wisdom. He also needs to be proactive with the coach and force him to play the players he has assembled. Billy Beane was never afraid to let his manager know who to play. Just my 2 cents for an analogy.

You really just need someone who rebounds well and provides some kind of defensive skill the meshes with the other frontcourt guys. Greg Monroe's strength isn't weak-side defense. The Pistons need someone on the roster that who can cover block/alter shots at the rim. They also need the right perimeter guys to put our bigs in the best situations. Right now that's only Zombie Tayshaun. Greg Monroe can peak at around 15-18ppg, which is fine for your top big man scoring option. But he's going to be most effective with complementary players around him. There aren't many of those on this roster.

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We are really missing this player x, just anyone with size who can play D and rebound. Its becoming apparent that the Monroe/JJ combo is not working. JJ should be at the 3 if that spot was not already covered for the next 4 years. Maybe he can be a sub at the 4 and go against their second line player instead of their starter.

I did buy the "Joe's hands were tied" argument until a month ago. What he did when the so-called shackles came off makes me wonder if he really has a grand plan. He has done nothing to even attempt to fill the gaps in the roster. He resigned Jerebko, which was pretty much a given. He bought out Rip, which also was something that just HAD to be done. But resigning Prince was a head-scratcher. So was resigning Stuckey IMO. You can make a supportive argument for both signings, but it is quite obvious that he overvalues his players. We've all talked about the great summer of 2013 where both Gordon, CV and Maxiell come off the books and we can finally start getting on with this business of contending. But I fear that Joe will just give all of them extensions and/or new contracts.

Also, another argument in Joe's favor that keeps popping up is "if not Joe, then who?", implying that there are no better GMs out there than Joe. Well, there is this guy called Kevin Pritchard who is currently not employed IIRC. He is a classy guy who is a damn good GM. Moreover, he has experience dealing with an involved billionaire owner, and therefore might be a better fit in our current situation than Joe D.

For the record, I love Joe D. He was one of my favorite players, and he has done a great job as a GM during his tenure here. He was brilliant in taking a horrid mess and building something great out of it. But, it is clear that dismantling something that works and rebuilding something new isn't his forte. I doubt he even realizes that his attempts to recreate a contender left him with a similar mess that he did such an admirable job of fixing when he started out. It is time to move on.